Daly Cherry-Evans has rebounded from last week’s horror show, helping Manly to shock Parramatta 22-18 at Brookvale for their first NRL win this year without Tom Trbojevic.

Recovering from one of the hardest games of his career last round against St George Illawarra, Cherry-Evans starred on Saturday night as Manly outplayed the Eels at Lottoland.

The halfback set up a try and scored one in a big first half for the Sea Eagles, who led 22-4 at the break before fading late.

Martin Taupau was also massive for Manly in his 100th game for the club, crossing for their first try and finishing with 137 metres.

After cruising to a 22-4 halftime lead, the Sea Eagles had to endure a nervous final seven minutes as they controlled just 41 per cent of the ball in the second half.

Parramatta had the margin back to eight points with seven minutes to play, and then four with seven seconds left when George Jennings crossed.

But when the Eels failed to take the final-minute kickoff, it gave Manly a crucial win after losing their past three without Trbojevic and Dylan Walker.

It means the Eels will relinquish top spot on the ladder for the first time since before the coronavirus shutdown if Penrith beat North Queensland on Sunday.

They desperately missed Mitchell Moses in attack as he planned his return from a calf injury, while Blake Ferguson and Ryan Matterson were also sidelined.

It looked like Manly’s night from the opening minute, when Jennings dropped the ball on the Eels’ opening play-the-ball.

It allowed Taupau to barge over from the ensuing set, before Cherry-Evans cut Parramatta’s line open in the 15th minute to cross untouched.

The Eagles’ captain sliced through Shaun Lane and Dylan Brown on Parramatta’s left, as he also finished with a game-high seven tackle busts.

Lane was found wanting in defence against his former club moments later, when Danny Levi went over from dummy-half from the next set.

And after the Eels hit back to make it 16-4, Cherry-Evans provided a killer blow on the halftime siren when he grubbered for a chasing Joel Thompson.

Parramatta failed to make the most of their chances early in the second half.

Waqa Blake briefly put them in the match with 25 minutes to play when he emerged with the ball from a tackle on Taupau and ran 90 metres to score.

Manly desperately appealed for it to be ruled a two-on-one strip, however the bunker deemed he had attempted to offload the ball before it came loose.

Michael Jennings claimed two tries, his second with eight minutes to play giving the Eels late hope before Manly finally held on.

The win came at some cost, though, with Moses Suli battling a sternum injury, while Parramatta also lost Nathan Brown to a corked hip.